Ground Zero
by Special FX
Summary: Bell Cranel had always believed in heroes. He just didn't expect a hero to be someone that called themselves 'King Explosion Murder'...
1. Chapter 1

**Ground Zero**

 **Prologue-**

* * *

Bell Cranel had everything planned out.

He'd become an adventurer and meet a beautiful girl in the dungeon. He'd protect her from all manner of monsters and beasts. And in the end, she would look up at him with a light blush on her cheeks, as he stood victorious in the aftermath of a vicious battle. It would be just like the stories his grandfather would tell him.

Bell Cranel had never been more wrong about anything in his entire life.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Rather than a damsel-in-distress screaming for help, the only one screaming was him.

Bell made a sharp turn and continued to run as fast as his legs could take him. The Dungeon was an endless labyrinth filled with nothing but bloodthirsty monsters, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was in such a panic right now, or if he was simply an idiot, but he couldn't for the life of him remember which direction led to the surface.

" _URRROOAAAARRR!"_

On second thought, it was definitely because he was scared out of his mind.

Bell could see the path ahead of him diverge into two different directions. He wasn't sure which one led to the surface, and he didn't have the time to think about it, so he simply ran towards the right side as quickly as he could. As he continued to run, he could still hear the Minotaur behind him rampaging all the while in hot pursuit.

He was going to die.

It was his first day as an adventurer and he was going to die.

What was he thinking, going into the Dungeon to pick up girls? In a Dungeon where adventurers died every day. He was a fool, that's what he was. And now, he was going to die on his very first day as an adventurer. All the cute girls in the world were probably laughing at him right now.

Bell could hear the Minotaur behind him getting closer and closer. Turning his head, just for a quick peek, he could see the Minotaur raise its massive forearm into the air. Only for it to come straight down, like a sledgehammer about to crush whatever poor fool that was in its way.

With a quick roll, he barely dodged out of the way in time.

The Minotaur's fist smashed into the ground, leaving a small dent in the floor. The monster let out a rough grunt as it stared him down. Bell couldn't help but crawl backwards out of fear, at the very least until his back hit the wall, signaling that it was the end of the line. He had taken a wrong turn and reached a dead end, only this time it was more literal rather than figurative.

He couldn't stop the tears that were threatening to come out.

The Minotaur raised one large hoof into the air, and Bell felt his body stiffen in fright.

"What the hell are you doing dumbass!?"

A loud explosion ripped through the tunnel. The shock-wave shook the entire floor, and Bell had to cover his eyes with his arms just to stop the debris from flying into them. The Minotaur that was about to crush him underneath its hooves was now nothing more than a splatter of blood against the wall. The one responsible, his savior, stood in front of him with an angry scowl on his face.

His outfit was flashier than anything Bell had ever seen before. Massive green gauntlets hung from both his arms and dark steel-toed boots clung to his feet. A black tank-top with an orange X slashed across it exposed his chiseled frame. Although what stood out the most was the dark mask that covered half of his face and the large flare-shaped cloth that popped out from behind his head.

"A-ah…" Bell stammered, before he managed to get up and bow his head. "T-thank you very much for saving me!"

"Shut the hell up brat," His savior grumbled, "What the hell were you—"

"Oi! Anyone seen a Minotaur run by here?" Another gruff voice called out from the other side of the tunnel. The voice belonged to a werewolf with grey hair, another figure that trailed behind the man Bell could easily recognize as the _Sword Princess_ , Ais Wallenstein. "There should've been… Hey, what the hell are you doing here, _Firecracker_?"

Bell's savior scowled.

"Who the hell are you calling _Firecracker,_ Loga?! I never accepted that shitty title, its _King Explosion Murder_ damn it!"

"And I'm saying no one's going to use that long ass name, Bakugou!" The werewolf growled back, "Now have you seen a Minotaur pass by here or not!?"

Bakugou jutted his thumb towards the blood splatter on the wall.

"Should've figured it was your dumbass that let a Minotaur escape towards the rookie floors," Bakugou sneered, "You can't even keep track of your own prey anymore, you shitty wolf?"

"Huh!? You want me to kick your face in, idiot?!" Loga snarled back, "I'll send you—"

"Thank you for your assistance, Bakugou-san." Ais Wallenstein interrupted as she bowed her head, "We need to return to our Familia, so we will be taking our leave now."

Bakugou simply stuffed his hands into his pockets and locked away.

"Tch, whatever."

Bell watched as the _Sword Princess_ and her werewolf companion walked away. He turned his attention back towards his savior, who was staring at them with a scowl on his face. After a brief moment, Bakugou scoffed and began to walk away as well.

"A-ah wait!" Bell called out, "Bakugou-san, right? It's nice to meet you! I'm Bell Cranel."

Bakugou stopped walking and simply glared back. Bell couldn't help but falter a bit at the intensity of his stare.

"Katsuki Bakugou." He eventually grumbled before walking away once more.

This time, Bell simply watched as his savior stalked off deeper into the Dungeon.

Bell had always believed in heroes, but he never expected them to have been quite like how Katsuki Bakugou was…

* * *

 **Author's Notes-**

I had a thought that wouldn't go away. This was the result. I think that I may have a problem.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1-**

* * *

"Thank you Eina-san! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Eina Tulle could only let out a sigh as she watched Bell Cranel walk out of the Guild House with a happy-go-lucky smile on his face.

A Minotaur.

A Minotaur of all things! He was only a Level One! He had only been a registered adventurer for two-weeks, for God's sake. A Minotaur would have been a challenge even for a Level Two adventurer, much less a rookie like Bell. It was a miracle that he had even managed to come out of a disaster like that unscratched.

At this rate, Bell Cranel was going to be the death of her one day.

Really now, it was a bit infuriating that the boy simply refused to heed any of the advice that she had given him.

" _Adventurers shouldn't go on adventures."_

It was a contradiction, one that many of her charges had pointed out to her, but for every heroic tale of an adventurer overcoming unsurmountable odds, there were dozens of unwritten stories that simply ended with an early grave and a tombstone. Everyone dreamed about glory and riches, but in reality, only a lucky hand-fold would ever manage to reach that upper-echelon of adventurers. The amount of first-class adventurers in Orario were few and far between.

Didn't Bell realize that if it weren't for another adventurer passing by, he could have died?

And of course, the one that saved him just _had_ to have been _that_ man. Out of all the people that Bell could have gotten involved with, that man was probably the _last_ person that she wanted him to meet. Katsuki Bakugou was without a doubt, one of the most _insufferable_ adventurers in Orario.

Eina simply let out another sigh as she brushed away the rest of her paperwork and began to get ready for the end of her shift.

"Heh heh, you worrying about Bell-kun again Eina?" A teasing voice snickered.

Misha Flott was a new co-worker of hers and somebody that she considered to be a friend. It was just too bad that the girl was also someone that had an annoying habit of teasing her about everything little thing that pertained to her young white-haired charge.

Eina refused to take the bait this time however, and simply rolled her eyes.

"He got attacked by a Minotaur, Misha. A Minotaur! And just after I told him to not go past the third floor until he was more experienced…"

"Oh… Well…" Misha said, a little taken aback. "At least everything turned out alright in the end, right? Bell-kun looked fine to me when I saw him."

"That's because he got saved by another adventurer that happened to be passing by." Eina replied with a frown. "And it was by Katsuki Bakugou of all people."

Misha's eyes grew wide.

"Wow, really?" Her pink-haired co-worker asked in surprise, "I didn't think that guy had it in him to play the part of a hero."

"Bakugou-san is an insufferable man, but he's not the evil villain everyone likes to portray him as." Eina simply replied, "He wouldn't leave a rookie to fend off a Minotaur all alone."

Katsuki Bakugou might've had a bit of a bad reputation among the Guild clerks, but he wasn't somebody that would abandon a fellow adventurer in need. Sure, he had a bad attitude, a tendency to swear up a storm, and that scowl he always wore on his face didn't exactly leave a good impression with everyone… And then he also had that absolutely infuriating habit of assigning everybody some kind of ridiculous nickname, outright refusing to address people by their given names or titles…

He was without a doubt, an insufferable man, but Eina had seen first-hand that he wasn't the type of person to just sit around and let someone die like that. The incident that occurred two-years ago with the Miach Familia was simply a testament to that. If it weren't for the heroics of Katsuki Bakugou, the Miach Familia might've been completely dissolved a while ago. He had his faults, but the rumors that people liked to spread about him were simply downright malicious.

Although, she still wished that it could have been anyone else _but_ him that had saved Bell. The last thing that she wanted in the world was for a rookie like Bell to start taking after some of Katsuki's bad habits as an adventurer.

And Katsuki Bakugou had _a lot_ of bad habits.

* * *

 _The Great Wall of Grief._

It was a massive wall that stood along the stone hallway right before the 18th floor of the dungeon. The entire hallway was more or less barren, with nothing but dirt and stone serving as the main highlights of the area. At the very least, the hallway wasn't narrow and had enough room for an entire party to maneuver around without much issue. It was more than enough space for him and his quirk to be used without worry.

Katsuki Bakugou stood in the middle of the hallway with his arms crossed over his chest.

His eyes narrowed as cracks began to appear on the wall. Any adventurer that had been down to Rivira enough times knew what cracks on the Wall of Grief meant; that the floor boss, the Goliath was coming. More cracks began to spread through the wall and soon, pieces of the wall itself began to fall off, revealing a large glowing red eye peering out from within the dungeon's walls.

A massive hand forced its way through the cracks, followed by another. More parts of the wall broke apart, leaving enough of a hole for the Goliath to break through completely. It was a massive creature that looked more like an overgrown giant than a monster. The Goliath's eyes seemed to dart around the area before they finally settled down on something that caught its interest.

Katsuki felt his lips morph into a wild grin.

He had been waiting for this moment, meticulously planning everything out, for a while now. The Goliath wasn't around all too often as other adventurers on the way to Rivira usually grouped up and killed it as soon as it re-spawned. It took some effort on his part to figure out the re-spawn time for the boss, but a little _coercion_ with his quirk and the various adventurer parties that passed by Rivira was enough for him to calculate when the next Goliath was going to spawn.

And it seemed like his calculations were correct.

The floor boss let out an ear-splitting roar, as if it were letting out a battle-cry. The Goliath was an enemy that typically took a full party or more to defeat, and for most adventurers, trying to solo a floor-boss was considered to be borderline suicidal. The allure of a potential level-up and the rush of power that came along with it however, was simply just too much for him to pass up on.

The gauntlets on his arms flashed a dangerous red.

It served as a warning sign that the nitroglycerin stored in his gauntlets was just about ready to blow. He had been storing up his nitro-sweat for weeks now as he waited for this day to arrive. There was probably enough nitroglycerin in his gauntlets to level an entire city block three-times over. Hell, even All-Might would probably think twice before taking an explosion of this magnitude head-on.

He would've never even thought about firing off a blast with this much nitroglycerin in the past. The kick-back from that would've probably ripped his whole damn arm off, but he wasn't the same person that he was back in U.A. High. The super-human abilities that the Falna tattooed on his back gave him made sure of that. He was confident that if he were to fight Deku now, he'd wipe the floor with him.

The Goliath finally seemed to be finished with its annoying screeching and began to charge straight at him.

If monsters had feelings, he would've thought that the stupid over-sized beast was looking down on him. It still pissed him off either way, and he lifted his right arm up in response. The pin on his gauntlet popped open and he hovered a gloved-finger over it in anticipation.

And with a feral grin on his face, he pulled down on the pin.

* * *

An ugly group of Kobolds stood between Bell Cranel and the next floor.

Miss Eina had warned him about not going too deep into the dungeon alone, that it was too early for him to go past the novice zone. However, Bell wanted to get stronger, he wanted to level-up and the best way to reach that goal was by going deeper into the dungeon. Bell wanted to get stronger, strong enough so that perhaps one day, he would be able to stand side by side with his savior and repay the favor.

And maybe, just maybe, become a hero like in the stories his grandfather use to tell him.

The Kobolds soon noticed his presence and began to surround him. They were beast-like creatures, similar to over-sized wolves, if wolves could stand on their hind legs. Unlike with Goblins however, the Kobolds knew how to make use of their numbers advantage. They all attacked together in unison, while positioning themselves so they weren't in each other's way at the same time. Bell ducked, dodging the overhead swipe of the closest Kobold before rushing forward and cut through its neck with his knife.

Another Kobold attempted to attack him from behind, but Bell was ready for it. He had fought against the Kobolds of this floor enough times that he had picked up on their habits. With speed easily surpassing the monsters on this floor, he turned around and jammed his knife into the Kobold's gut. Giving the knife a quick twist, Bell ripped it out before weaving out of the way of another Kobold's strike.

In a matter of seconds, the rest of the Kobolds met the same quick end.

After taking some time to gather up the magic stones, Bell tossed them into his pouch and began to make his way down towards the next floor. The walls of the dungeon soon changed color, signifying that it was the end of the novice zone. Stronger monsters would soon begin to appear, and much more frequently at that.

Bell kept his guard up as he continued to make his way through the dungeon. After a little bit of walking, a War Shadow blocked his path, impeding him from going further. War Shadows were monsters that looked exactly as it's named suggested, pitch black like a shadow, and while it was humanoid in appearance, the monster itself had no other defining features other than it's razor sharp fingers.

War Shadows were the strongest monsters on the 6th floor. Most rookie adventurers wouldn't stand a chance against them and would rather simply flee at the sight of one. For Bell however, that was exactly the kind of challenge that he needed to overcome if he wanted to become stronger, if he wanted to accomplish his dream of becoming a hero.

Bell held his knife close and charged forward.

He slashed at the monsters neck, but unlike with the Kobolds and the Goblins in the earlier floors, the War Shadow was a lot quicker than they were. The monster zipped out of the way and stabbed at his eye with its sharp fingers. The monster was quick and Bell barely managed to dodge its strike, the War Shadow's finger still managing to graze his cheek. Bell jumped backwards in order to create some space as he examined the damage.

Luckily, it was only a shallow cut.

The War Shadow was _strong_. Far stronger than any of the monster that Bell had fought up until this point. This was much different when compared to the battles he had on the novice floors. There was a true feeling of danger, and the fear of the real possibility of death made him question just what exactly had he been doing up until this point.

If he couldn't even overcome this, then he had no chance of ever catching up to his savior, much less become a hero.

He gripped his knife tightly and charged forward once again. The War Shadow lashed out with its sharp fingers, headed straight for his neck. This time however, Bell decided he wasn't going to back down. He planted his left foot hard off the ground continued to rush forward, choosing to dodge the War Shadow's attack at the very last second by craning his neck to the side. Another shallow cut found its mark on the left-side of his neck, but he didn't care.

With a grunt, he brought his knife up and cut the monster right through its glowing eye.

The War Shadow let out a rasp before it fell to the ground in a heap. Bell let out a breath and smiled at the sight. He had done it! He defeated the War Shadow! Bell's celebration was short-lived however, as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up.

Two more War Shadows began to ooze out of the walls.

Bell brought his knife back up as the two War Shadows began to circle around him like sharks. The two monsters seemed to flex their fingers, as if they were warming up for a long battle. For a brief moment, the thought of running away flashed through Bell's mind, but he quickly discarded the thought. He wasn't going to get stronger by running away, therefore escaping was not an option for him.

The only thing that mattered right now was getting stronger.

The War Shadow in front of him suddenly dashed forward and attacked. Bell jumped out of the way, but the War Shadow that was behind him had rushed forward as well. There was no way he was going to be able to dodge this one, so he tried to parry the monster's sharp fingers with his knife. The War Shadow still managed to nick him across the shoulder, although he was able to prevent it from landing a critical blow on him.

The battle continued in this way for a while as the two War Shadows kept pressing their numbers advantage. It took everything Bell had to just stay alive, much less try to attack back. As the War Shadow behind him drew its arm back for a slash, a large tremor suddenly rocked the floor. The monsters stopped attacking and seemed to be visibly surprised at the floor's sudden shaking.

Bell took advantage of this and rushed forward, stabbing his knife straight into the neck of the War Shadow in front of him. Its brethren seemed to regain its senses at the sight and dashed forward to get revenge, but with the numbers no longer stacked against him, Bell was confident that he would be able to take it down. With a good deal of effort, he ripped his knife out from the the dead War Shadow's neck and parried an incoming talon before counter attacking with a quick thrust into its chest. The monster crumpled down onto the ground not long after.

Letting out another breath, he soon dropped to the floor and took a well-deserved rest.

Bell wasn't sure what that shaking was, but it had helped him out a good deal. Perhaps it had been an earthquake or something? But either way, he had gotten lucky this time. If that sudden tremor had gotten the War Shadow's attention, things might've had a turn for the worst...

He really needed to get stronger.

* * *

Naaza Erisuis hummed a light tune as she continued to sort through a box of herbs that contained most of the ingredients she needed to mix together another batch of potions. It was early in the morning, so the store was empty, as to be expected. The _Blue Pharmacy_ wasn't exactly the most well-known or influential store in the city, but they did have their regulars that managed to keep them afloat. Most of their customers were lower-level adventurers that couldn't quite afford the more high-end supplies that the other medicinal Familias provided.

That suited Naaza just fine though, as she never did enjoy dealing with the attitudes that most of the high-class adventurers seemed to possess. Although she _did_ wish that the store could make just a _little_ bit more money, if only so that her God did not have to stress as much as he did over their Familia's financial problems. Despite the smile that he always put on, Naaza knew that Miach had went through a lot of trouble just to make sure that her arm was all well and taken care of.

Naaza let out a small sigh as she let her fingers trace over the cold surface of her prosthetic right arm.

The object itself was a grim reminder of a memory that she wished she could lock away forever and forget. A past in which her foolish-self thought that she had what it took to be an adventurer, that she was different from all of the adventurers who died on a daily basis, that she was _special_. It was a _scar_ , an ugly wound that reminded her not only of a foolish youth, but of the sacrifices that Miach had to make for her bad decisions.

The ringing bell on top of the door quickly drew her out of her thoughts and she forced a plastic smile onto her face. Although when she saw who the customer was, that fake smile slid right off.

"Good evening, Bell-kun." Naaza greeted with a genuine smile, "Are you perhaps here to buy some more potions?"

The small white-haired boy simply chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh he… Sorry Naaza-san, but I don't think that I have enough money for potions today."

She could feel her lips twitch a bit.

"Now listen here Bell-kun, Miach-sama might like giving out freebies, but we can't do that all the time. Even if you are one of our regulars." Naaza replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We do have a business here that we have to run after all."

"Oh, no, no, it's nothing like that! I'm not here for potions at all." Bell quickly explained with a shake of his head. "I was just wondering if Bakugou-san was here today."

Naaza raised an eyebrow in response.

Most of the time, when people came looking for Katsuki, it wasn't with very good intentions in mind. Katsuki didn't exactly have the best reputation in Orario after all, and he definitely had a lot more enemies than he did friends. With his personality, it was a wonder why an angry mob hadn't showed up in front of their store yet. Although, if she had to put money on it, it was probably only a matter of time until something like that _did_ happen.

"What did Katsuki do this time?" Naaza asked as she sighed, "I hope that idiot didn't cause you too much trouble Bell-kun."

"What? No! It wasn't anything like that!" Bell quickly shook his head in response. "It was the opposite! He helped me out a lot! I just wanted to properly thank him for saving me in the Dungeon the other day. I know what people say about Bakugou-san..." Bell slowly trailed off, before his eyes soon filled with determination, "But I don't think that Bakugou-san is a bad person! He wouldn't have saved me otherwise."

Naaza couldn't help but laugh.

Bell really did have such an innocent way of thinking. The boy was right about one thing though, despite popular opinion, Katsuki actually _did_ have a good side to him. Sure, his personality left a lot to be desired, he could be a downright _ass_ most of the time, and while she wouldn't exactly call Katsuki a _good_ person, he definitely wasn't the villain that the rumors portrayed him to be. Her fingers subconsciously traced over another phantom pain that zipped through her prosthetic arm.

Katsuki might have been a handful, but Naaza truly did appreciate him for being a part of her life.

Aside from her God, Katsuki was the only other person that stayed with her after that incident in the dungeon after all... Out of everybody in the Miach Familia, Katsuki had been the only one that had decided to remain in the familia, even _after_ the debt that Miach had taken on to replace her arm with a prosthetic. At the time, Katsuki had been the last person that she had expected to stay, and it was only _after_ that adversity did she get to truly know what kind of person Katsuki Bakugou was.

"Sorry Bell, but Katsuki isn't here right now." Naaza eventually replied, "He went off into the Dungeon a few days ago and hasn't returned yet."

Bell deflated a little at that.

"Oh… I see… Well, that's alright. I'll just come by next time then."

"Make sure to buy some potions next time too. The Dungeon is a dangerous place Bell." Naaza lectured as she reached into one of her cabinets, "An adventurer always needs to be prepared."

She dug through a case of vials before pulling out a bottle filled with a green-colored liquid. It was a new formula that she had been working on, and it was one that could match-up with some of the higher-end potions on the market. After she poured out the contents of the bottle into smaller, more portable vials, she put the potions into a bag and handed them over to Bell.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise.

"But Naaza-san, I can't afford all of that!"

Naaza simply smiled as she pushed the bag into the boy's hands.

"Don't worry about it Bell-kun. You can pay us back once you manage to earn some more Valis later on. I wasn't kidding when I said that the Dungeon was a dangerous place." She continued to lecture, "You need to be prepared. Stronger adventurers than you die in the Dungeon everyday Bell-kun."

Naaza had seen the dangers of the Dungeon first-hand after all.

It was an experience that she wouldn't want to wish upon anyone.

* * *

 **Author's Notes-** Ah... Proofreading this took forever. If anyone's interested in beta'ing for me, let me know. Otherwise, happy reading and let me know what you guys think.


End file.
